I have just returned from my trip to the Congo DR, and I haven't been able to fully process my thoughts but here is some of the raw material I can come up with.To call the bus journey to Gisenyi 'scenic' would only under sell the dramatic Rwandan landscape. Mountains and cliff edges abound, which made for nervous travelling as the bus drivers here seem to hold no sanctity for human life!! We had already passed a truck lying flattened upside down, no doubt killing instantly its driver, but this did not seem to act as a deterrant for our driver! On route we also noted a lot of uniformed workers, building along the mountain sides. It turns out this is part of the 15 year rehabilitation programme for genocide prisoners.
We arrived at the Congolese border to find it carefully guarded by the army. We went to pay for our visa's when we were hurried into this pokey back office, with God know's what behind the curtain that lay behind the shifty officer who interviewed us as to our purpose to travelling into the Congo. Praise God for Justin rallying our case for I fear if it were not for him we may have been pray to the hungry Congolese soldiers who had not been paid in over 4 months (which is not the first time that has happened either!)
Eventually we got in for the rip off price of $50 when it should have only been $35, but of course we had no legs to stand on because they had guns! We were even more outraged to find out they were going to force us to pay again the next day despite possessing an 8 day visa, which ultimately cut our time there short.
So we finally made it into Goma. A city torn apart from war and molten rock from the volcanic eruptions. As we rode through the town on boda boda's, we found most buildings lacked any structural integrity, there was poverty everywhere we looked and there was a general feeling of insecurity from the locals. In fact Dave was lucky to escape a mugging as the offender went for the wrong pocket, and then got surrounded.
With firearms everywhere and even attack helicopters flying overhead, we thought we had seen the worst of it, boy were we deceived. When we entered the refugee camp Magunga (our purpose for being in goma in the first place), we were immediately hit with the overwhelming and devastating need of the people who live there. We heard endless stories of widows who lost most of the families to the war, are now living barely with shelter and there is simply no food to feed their children let alone themselves.
They live with the clothing they have on their backs. They get fed on average one paltry meal every 3 days. They have no beds, no blankets, no education, no income, no self worth, no medication, minimal protection, no counselling, no sanitation, (in fact there is one toilet between 8000 refugees, and it's full, and its stinking). Their basic needs are just so many, it's incomprendable. And all these 'theys' that I speak about, these are real individual human beings, with real lives, thoughts, emotions, dreams. I am desperate that these people are remembered not as statistics, but as deeply loved children of God who need this world to...
WAKE UP!
There is simply no aid organisations there, including the UN. I can not fathom how anybody who finds themselves in that situation finds any hope let alone faith in God, but I was struck by the amazing faithfulness of these people who still believe that God will redeem their situation, end the war and return them to their homelands. Perhaps there has never been a truer meaning for that passage in Chronicles "If my people who are called by my name...". The children as well are amazing, they find such joy and playfullness despite such incomprehendable conditions.
I can not help but feel called into action, yet feel so helpless as to what to do. I am not so sure if returning to their homelands is the best situation for the people in these refugee camps. Perhaps maybe they could even start a new community there, subsistantly looking after each other. But right now I am too overwhelmed to have any idea what to do or even to pray for. This is something only God can take care of. I believe like in Moses time that He has heard the cry of his people, and He will come down to save them from such destitution.We could have not been more relieved to return back to beautiful Gisenyi. The rwandan border control were most welcoming on our return, it really felt like we had came from purgatory into paradise. Lake Kivu is magnificent to bathe in and there are simply no superlatives to describe to beauty of the view.
To grasp this we climbed a hill behind where we were staying, and the scene could only be described as something out of the Lord of the Rings. The Congo mountains gave distinct resemblence to Mordor, with the Volcano off to the far right being Mount Doom. Then of course, fair gisenyi and lake kivu reminds one of Middle Earth. I'm not a LOTR guru, so if you don't believe me check out Luke's photo's when we get back! One of our other experiences here was our first taste of 'Banana beer', and if I have my way it will be my last, for it was rancid!
Again, I have not had enough time to gather my thoughts, not enough space on this blog to tell of every smell, sound and story. I will try my best to tell the story of these individual people, real human beings who God loves just as much as you and me, whose heart breaks for their situation. In the meantime Dave has written and excellent insight to what we say... see below.http://ugandacrew2009.blogspot.com/2009/06/hope-inspite-of-what-we-can-see.html
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